Nimbochromis venustus

[jcunningham0295]

Currently have a breeding group of Nimbochromis venustus in a 100 gallon tank. Group consists of 2 males there are 8.5+" and three females. Looking for ideas of tank mates for them.

Thanks,
Josh

[Kyle May]

I wouldn't put anything else in that tank with them.

km

[steveh28]

Most people keep species only breeding tanks. Especially with Malawi cichlids because they will hybridize very quickly. If you really want something in with them, you could do a larger Synodontis species, however that may limit your fry potential from the venustus.

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

I breed & have bred them for years & years. I also breed them with other types of fish in the tank. Currently I have a breeding group of Boreyli with mine with no problems. Venustus can be pretty aggressive though. I never had them cross with any other fish. But I would not mix other Nimbos like livingstoni, polystigma etc that look similar and may cross.
Pseudo aceis, Electric Yellow labs, Rusty, are some good mbuna that are possible tank mates that do not get to big & will hang in the rocks etc. Group of 5-6 semi adults would be okayIMOo. Just have enough filtering & do regular water changes to maintain bio load. Also the syno cats of just about any kind could work. Even clown loachs would work well.

me Dave

[jcunningham0295]

I breed & have bred them for years & years. I also breed them with other types of fish in the tank. Currently I have a breeding group of Boreyli with mine with no problems. Venustus can be pretty aggressive though. I never had them cross with any other fish. But I would not mix other Nimbos like livingstoni, polystigma etc that look similar and may cross.
Pseudo aceis, Electric Yellow labs, Rusty, are some good mbuna that are possible tank mates that do not get to big & will hang in the rocks etc. Group of 5-6 semi adults would be okayIMOo. Just have enough filtering & do regular water changes to maintain bio load. Also the syno cats of just about any kind could work. Even clown loachs would work well.

me Dave

What size are your boreyli and venustus? Also what size tnak and what is the male/female ratio?

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

male V is around 6-7"? 4 females abut 4-5". Copado Male about 6" and about 3 females 4-5" all in a 75 gallon tank.

me

[jcunningham0295]

Ok, thanks. I have two males and seven females (I have added four more females in the last day or so). Thinking the two males is my issue. Also was going to try some Boreyli as well to fill out the tank more. Maybe one male and five females.

[Kyle May]

A 100 gallon tank is too small for the amount of fish you are adding.
Unless you plan on water changing this tank every day, I think you are heading for disaster....

Kyle

[jcunningham0295]

A 100 gallon tank is too small for the amount of fish you are adding.
Unless you plan on water changing this tank every day, I think you are heading for disaster....

Kyle

I am only planning to have 14 fish in total. I have two emperor 400's running for filtration.

[Lotsapetsgarfhts]

You will still need to do some pretty large water changes on a regular basis.

[jcunningham0295]

You will still need to do some pretty large water changes on a regular basis.

I do them every four days on my larger tanks. Maybe I will just stick with the nine venustus for now.

[Kyle May]

Understand that mostly when I give advice, it's because I've made tons of mistakes before and I don't want you to have to
suffer through the same mistakes as I did. Since I started keeping cichlids 30 yrs ago, I've had a disaster with this particular fish and it cost me a very expensive community
of nice cichlids and I'll never forget how nasty those Venustus were. To this day my buddy Andrew always elbows me in the ribs when
we are at a show or auction and Venustus come up because he saw first hand the disaster I had with these guys. He's never missed a chance
to razz me about it, and it makes me laugh to this day.

Everybody's experience is different however, and every experienced aquarist breaks the rules...so take my, or anyone else's advice here
with a grain of salt. We all break the rules and some of us can get away with it. This has never been my luck however...lol

My one and only concern is that I want you to enjoy the hobby and I worry that if you have a bad experience that you'll become disenchanted with the cichlids
that many of of us love. It gets expensive when your cichlids are killing each other off...lol.

Send us some pics of those guys. Even though I had a tough go with them, they are still on my list for a fish I need to keep again.


Now...does anyone have some Lethrinops?....lol

km

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

I guess my last post was deleted with some more information on keeping these guys.

[Lotsapetsgarfhts]

Dave,
I don't think it posted at all. You may have hit the submit button but your mouse didn't activate it.
John

[jcunningham0295]

@Dave, John
Thanks for the comments and advice. It is appreciated as always.

@ Kyle

Thanks for all the insight. I appreciate your knowledge and comments. This is the first time I have kept a group with the males this large for venustus so I think leaving them by themselves in the tank is probably best for now. I have heard from other's of the stories similar to your experiences where they have killed all the other fish in the tank. See below pictures.

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[Kyle May]

Killer looking fish......nice color too.

@Dave (something fishy)...Please repost your comments. I administrate here and did not delete your post.
Your posts are very informative...so please repost.....thanks...Kyle

[jcunningham0295]

I think they have finally settled down. Here are a couple more pics from yesterday.

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